Q. Related to the Stanford rivalry, I think this is the fifth straight year you guys are ranked going into the game. Had some close finishes the last couple of years. But why do you think, outside of these two programs, nationally it’s not really talked about amongst some of the other rivalries around the nation coming up this weekend. Seems to fly under the radar despite all the characteristics and commonalities in the program.

COACH KELLY: It’s a shame because both of them have incredible graduation rates as well. I think it should be talked a lot more about, you know — probably because it doesn’t have some of the names that are — it’s not Bedlam. It’s not those kinds of names that — the Iron Bowl.

We’ve got to make up a name. I think it’s up to you guys to come up with a name for this game so we can get in with the in crowd, and then I think people will pay more attention to it. So it’s pretty much the media’s fault (laughter).

Coach Kelly, we have the answer for you. From Hammer (@atxprogress) :

I like “Boss Bowl”, as in your boss probably went to one of these two schools.

There it is. Good luck to Notre Dame in the Boss Bowl this weekend. Go Irish!

It turns out half of the Michigan squad played App State in 2007 stoned to the bejeezus. According to Chatsports up to 6 defensive starters and 3 offensive starters toked up before the game.

The night before the game, everyone was smoking pot and having fun at the team hotel, no coaches were bothering us. The next day, (game day), one offensive player in particular was the ring leader and was messing around trying to convince all the other guys that we could beat these guys stoned and how crazy it would be to be all messed up and still ‘drop 50 on these fools’.

That actually does not surprise me. We are talking about Michigan here. What is shocking is the total lack of preparation from the Wolverines heading into the season:

“There was a perception that we were going to be so good in ’07 that everyone kind of thought the entire season was going to be a breeze, we would go undefeated for sure” said the former player. “There were two different teams that off-season it seems. A lot of the Ohio (high school) guys and guys from west coast stuck together, and were really into the party scene, the Michigan (high school) players and seniors were the other group. The really odd thing is that I don’t think Chad (Henne) saw any of the receivers from the time spring ball ended until the first day of fall camp. We were just a bunch of guys with our own agendas and no sense of team. Once (LaMarr) Woodley and (David) Harris left after ’06, all leadership was gone on the team.

This makes the 2007 loss to Michigan 0-38 at home even more embarrassing. Notre Dame must have been even more stoned that day.

In our 5 years(or is it 6 now? Lost count) we have never had any form of advertising on the site. And we will keep it that way except for today.

A good buddy of mine and I launched the following website/app to help people remember important quotes and events in their lives. Think about parents jotting down the funny things their kids say or college buddies keeping track of all the stupid things they do.

Check out the site and the app if you have a few seconds. There is a video there that explains it all. Thanks.

The IRT is back with another IBG. Can we get another three letter acronym? Sure. NBC’s Keith Arnold is hosting this week. Must be a big game.

This Thanksgiving we are thankful for the Irish Blogger Gathering.

Obviously, Saturday night’s game is massive. Win, and the Irish get to nine wins after starting 0-2, and you can make a really persuasive argument that they’re deserving of a BCS berth. Lose, and ND only makes incremental progress over last year’s 8-5 record. Three potential outcomes: Win, close loss, ten-point loss. How does your takeaway for the season change?

Too many fans stake the Season on W-L record. Obviously it is important. But with a program rebuilding, it’s less about W-L for me and more about improvement. Improvement from season to season and improvement during the course of the year. Despite Saturday’s outcome it is safe to say that this team is better than last years and probably better than any team since Holtz was the coach. And the team is getting better as the season moves on. Rees is developing before our eyes. As is the entire defense.

Right now the Irish have 15 prospects committed to the 2012 recruiting class. Let’s assume every starter with a year left is coming back (Cave, KLM, Cwynar and Slaughter) and the Irish end up signing 20 recruits. That’ll make 93 players technically available for the 85-man roster (With Mike Ragone potentially being No. 94). Assuming Te’o and Eifert are back next season, what reserves do you invite back for a fifth year? Why?

Crist – yes, but I don’t see him staying

Goodman – No

Walker – No

Golic – Yes

Clelland – Yes

Hafis Williams – No

Brandon Newman – No

McDonald – No

Posluszny – No

McCarthy – No

Ragone* (Sixth Year) – Easy, if Eifert stays, No. If Eifert goes, yes

If you ran the website NDNation, what would you do with it? It’s the most prominent Notre Dame hub on all of the internet, but it’s got a very vocal faction of readers/fans that seem to control the agenda — most often with a significantly negative point-of-view. What would you do if that was your website?

I love this question, Keith. It’ll let us see if NDNation can take criticism as well as they dole it out.

I am NDJoe on NDNation. I give the founders of NDNation serious props for not only starting the site when they did but also for keeping it going for as long as they have. It is not easy to run a website for as long as they have. The backroom at NDNation is an incredible resource and a great daily read.

I used to post on Rock’s House every so often to join the dialogue. I also used to read every single post. Now I just go there once a week. The negativity and groupthink are out of control. The resistance to change is mind-boggling.

NDNation doesn’t want Notre Dame to sell out and tarnish “the brand.” But isn’t this exactly what NDNation has done with their site? The countless ads clutter up the screen and increase load times. It also calls to question (the same question I have for the ND Administration and the football team) Is this about ND Football or making money? I understand it takes money to run a site but it is not that much. Plus, NDNation could pull the ads once they cover expenses. Make no mistake about it: this is a for-profit entity. Just like the Notre Dame football team that they continually rail on.

But this is America. Where capitalism reigns. Unfortunately the leaders of NDNation have bought into America’s idea of capitalism but North Korea’s idea of free speech. If you have dissenting thoughts on the Jumbotron, field turf, music in the Stadium, or any other gameday traditions then you will be ostracized. If you think Kelly is doing a fine job, you better not mention that on NDNation.

I checked out Rock’s House last Sunday after the BC win. If I didn’t watch the game I would have thought ND lost.*

I shutter to think what NDNation’s opinions of Lou Holtz would have been if it existed back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The very coach, who the illuminati of NDNation want today’s coach to emulate, would have been lambasted and thrown to the wolves. It’s sad that ND is having a resurgence after 15 years of pain and it still is not good enough.

A turning point for NDNation was the Call For Change campaign that NDNation ran to have Ty Willingham removed as head coach. It gave the impression that a few internet yokels could steer policy and decision making at the University. Since then I feel like the leaders at NDNation have used the site to drive the issues that they feel most strongly about. If the Dear Leaders don’t want a Jumbotron, they need to write about it every day, squash those who are pro-Jumbotron, and claim that no right-minded ND fan wants a Jumbotron. Then ND won’t get a Jumbo-tron. And the Dear Leaders pat themselves on the back. “We saved ND from a Jumbotron..”

Problem with that is that there are more places for Notre Dame specific discussion on the internet today than ever. I used to get 100% of my ND football info at NDNation. Now I get less than 5%. Imagine the old-timer that still gets 100%. What was he thinking at the USC game when they actually started pumping music into the Stadium? All he knew was that people were against pumping music into the Stadium(NDNation groupthink.) How surprised is he he going to be when the Jumbotron actually goes up in the coming years?

The question was how would I change NDNation.

-I would lose the ads(at least once the yearly budget was covered.) When you are for-profit your motives will be questioned.

-I would merge Rocks House and Cartier Field. Create a separate board for students and admin. Only people with und.edu email addresses could post on it.

-I would “hire” two admins that don’t think like the current admins. Younger alums or students that might have differing opinions than the main 4 guys.

-I would open a NDNation Twitter account. Drive some of the discussion from Twitter to the board.

*As a side note I believe you can be anti-Kelly or anti-Rees, but not both. This team is 8-3 and clearly improved. If you think Rees sucks, then Kelly must be doing an excellent job coaching to be at 8-3 with a sub-par QB. If you think Kelly sucks, then Rees must be amazing as he is racking up better numbers than Brady Quinn AND Jimmy Clausen as sophomores.

You’re Brian Kelly. You spent last recruiting class successfully upgrading the front seven of the defense. Over the next two recruiting classes, what position groups do you absolutely need to upgrade to get the Irish over the BCS hump?

Continue to recruit the hell out of the Dline and Oline. Each and every year. Oh, and add one lock-down CB each year, too

I’ve seen dozens of analogies used to describe the current state of the quarterbacking position at Notre Dame. What’s your favorite, or the one you think is the most appropriate?

Waterboy. A majority of ND fans think Tommy Rees is no good and doesn’t belong on the field. Fact is, he’s the most proficient Sophomore QB Notre Dame has ever had. I’ve been ranting about this for weeks. Tommy Rees’ Soph numbers are better than Brady Quinns’ and Jimmy Clausen’s.

Get out the crystal ball. Even after an unimpressive weekend, the Irish are right around a seven-point underdog to Stanford. Do the Irish leave Palo Alto victorious?

30% chance Notre Dame leaves with a victory. Not having Gray hurts and Luck is going to thrash the secondary. Need to get pressure early and often and hope Brian Kelly tries to establish a running game with Wood.

(1)Throw out looks. This isn’t a beauty contest. And the statistics don’t care how you look.
(2)He may not be as mobile as Hendrix and Golson, but Tommy can read defenses well and according to Kelly he does a great job of checking into plays. Plus, he’s the starter. So he must be running Kelly’s offense better than any other QB on the team.
(3)Rees thrives despite not being as highly recruited. 5-star vs. 3-star. Of course the fans are going to pull for the 5 star.
(4)Here’s the thing about Rees’ upside. He is still improving. Compare the first 4 games of the year with the last 5:

First four games: 7:6 TD:INT ratio. Last 5 games 10:4

(5)Rees’ TD:INT ratio is the same as Quinn’s and better than Clausen’s. Plus, Tommy is getting better(see number 4.) His numbers will look even better at the end of the season.

Finally, regardless of all the other stats. Rees still has the most important statistic going for him: Wins vs. Losses.

Rees is 10-2 as a starter.

As a numbers guy, I am pro-Rees. All the talk of Golsen, Hendrix, and Crist is nice, but Tommy will be the starter until he graduates.

In what has to be the biggest Notre Dame stadium change since the expansion, music blared from the PA system during last week’s game.

We were excited to see the change in what has become a stale home game experience. While the execution and the music itself needs some work, we’ll give the ND Gameday crew an A for effort.

Hopefully, this isn’t a once-a-year occurrence. A few thoughts:

1) We liked the music and felt like it added to the electrifying environment. The older fans around us definitely looked a little dazed and confused when The Dropkick Murphy’s started the game off. If you didn’t like the music, you are probably old. And you probably don’t like change. That’s fine. But if you thought the music was a big change, prepare yourself for the Jumbotron. It’s coming. And you can’t stop it.

2) The DJ needs to mix it up a bit. I think this goes without saying. All Aboard…I…I…I…

5) The band played plenty during the game but they never competed with the music. Problem is that after hearing the music, you would have to strain to hear the band. We say mic the band up. Get them louder.

It’s easy to criticize and not offer any suggestions. So here’s ours:

A) Always start with “Shipping Out To Boston” And play it on all ND kickoffs. Except when Boston College comes to play. When they are visiting ND should play this.